


Breathe

by orewing



Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Gen, Other, The Red War (Destiny)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-18
Updated: 2018-12-18
Packaged: 2019-10-09 02:39:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17398451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orewing/pseuds/orewing
Summary: Bramble Kron is a Nightstalker, and their home is the Wilds. A high perch and a good scope is all they need....Isn't it?





	Breathe

A chill breeze rustles through the conifers two klicks out from Firebase Hades. There is no other sound, save for the occasional shuffle of a readjusting sniper, and stillness returns to the night. It’s a new moon, and the only lights are stars overhead and spotlights far below. Breathe in, breathe out, eyes fixed to scope.

Comms crackle to life and Bramble Kron barely resists the instinct to jump.

“Bramble?” A timid voice just barely comes through over the static, and the Hunter grits their teeth.

_Breathe in, breathe out._

“Alice. I said I was going dark _two hours_ ago.” Bramble tears their gaze from their scope for just a moment to do a quick sweep of the surrounding area. If they were compromised here, it could mean end-of-line. "Do you know what that means?”

“I know, but it’s important.”

“What is?” There’s an extended silence. Bramble sighs. “Look, it took a lot of resources--” _and a lot of lives_ , they add silently, “--to get the intel on this Val. If I don’t kill him, Hawthorne will have my head. If the Red Legion don’t get to it first.” They move to disable their comms when Alice’s voice bursts through again, much too panicked.

“Come back to the Farm soon, okay?!”

“I will,” Bramble reaffirms, but they feel something like worry beginning to gnaw at their ribs. “Alice… what aren’t you telling me?”

Silence. Bramble almost goes to turn off their comms again when they receive the answer, and they have to strain to hear it over the ambient noise of the channel.

“...It’s Jill.”

Bramble’s heart skips a beat. Their mouth suddenly feels dry. They only barely remember to stay trained on their scope as a fine tremor starts to run through their limbs. So far they’ve seen three Harvesters come and go with no sign of their target amongst the passengers, but they’re determined to stay until dawn if necessary. At least, they were.

_Breathe in, breathe out._

“What happened?”

Bramble hears Alice exhale over the channel, and they can almost picture how she must look right now: shoulders slumped with the weight of worlds, dark blue hair escaping from the bun at the back of her head and falling into her face, silver eyes dim and circled with bruising from lack of sleep.

“We were attacking one of their supply routes. We should have been at an advantage, but…” Alice takes a pause to compose herself. “They had a Colossus. They must have been expecting us. Everyone got out alive, somehow, but Jill… she got hurt.”

The worry grows, becoming an almost physical pain.

“How bad?”

“She got clipped in the side trying to protect one of the Militia. He probably would have died if she hadn’t intervened. They’ve put her up in one of the farmhouses, and she was stable last time I checked in on her, but…”

“But you don’t know how long it’s going to stick.” Bramble desperately wants Alice to correct them, but they’re met with a responding silence instead, and the pain writhing in their chest turns into a weight. Another Harvester arrives at the edge of base below, and they rest their finger back against the trigger.

_Breathe in, breathe out._

“Do you know how soon you’ll be back?” Alice sounds… hopeful isn’t quite the right word. Tentatively optimistic, maybe.

There’s a few beats of silence as Bramble adjusts their rifle and the scope passes over the small convoy of Cabal infantry that just dropped from the Harvester.

Bramble wishes they had Alice’s mental fortitude. She had always been the voice of reason in their fireteam, and emotionally the soundest of the three. She was strongest in mind. Jill was strongest in form. Bramble...

They ignore the activity of Legionaries and Phalanxes, evaluating the Val instead, and it takes a moment before they set sights on their designated target.

_Breathe in, breathe out._

...Bramble wasn’t strong in any way, really. Any Titan could put them in a headlock without much fuss, and most Warlocks could talk circles around them. They weren’t strong, or smart, or stable like their fireteam. Instead, what they were was precise, and patient, and quiet. And so they would spend long stretches of time out here in the Wilds, nestled in sniper’s perches and waiting for targets, miles or even worlds away from comradery.

And they miss it.

And they miss Jill.

And they miss Alice.

And as they put pressure on the trigger they decide, live or die, this is the last time. Because they can’t bear the thought of not being there if something happens. They can’t bear the thought of losing Jill without getting the chance to say goodbye.

_Breathe in, breathe out._

“Sooner than you might think.”

_Breathe in._

An almighty crack breaks through the night, and Firebase Hades is thrown into chaos as the Val falls in an instant. Bramble picks up the rifle and runs.

“Bram? What was that? Bramble?!”

“I have to go! I can’t let them trace me, but I’ll be there before sunup, I promise.” They vault across a clearing as a Thresher’s spotlight sweeps overhead, and it sweeps back again just to catch the edge of their cloak as they vanish into dense forest.

“You’re coming back?!”

“I’m coming home!” They turn off their comms and they _run_.

They don’t stop running until they’re four klicks further out from the base than they started. The cold night air is a welcome respite as Bramble struggles out of their helmet and gasps for air. Their hair is matted to their forehead with sweat, and they brush it from their face as they collapse against a nearby log and tilt their head upwards.

And for all the Red Legion has done, the sky is just the same.

“...I’m coming home.”

_Breathe out._

**Author's Note:**

> Originally created for Written in Light Volume 2: Tales From the Fall (cancelled).


End file.
